Catfish, Clarias batrachus Rearing in Mini-Earthen Ponds with Various Formulated Feeds

Abstract

An experiment was conducted in mini-earthen ponds (1 decimal) for a period of seven months to explore the suitable laboratory-prepared diet for Clarias batrachus fingerlings in terms of growth and survival. Seven-week-old fingerlings, each having an initial weight of 2.89 ± 0 g, were reared in ponds at a stocking density of 500 individuals/40 m² pond. There were four treatments, each consisting of two replications. In three treatments, different formulated diets were used depending on the source of protein supply, viz. blood meal (T₁), fish meal (T₂), and a combination of blood meal and fish meal (T₃); the other treatment had no feed (T₄). The protein content in each experimental diet was adjusted to 45%. The highest (80.54 ± 2.65 g) and lowest growth (7.39 ± 0.72 g) were found in T₂ and T₄, respectively. The survival rates of T₁, T₂, T₃ and T₄ were 58.2 ± 3.49%, 65.4 ± 3.06%, 62.6 ± 2.66% and 21.6 ± 1.73%, respectively. There were no significant differences (P > 0.05) among the survival rates of T₁, T₂ and T₃, while significant differences (P < 0.05) were present among treatments with various feed applications. The FCRs of the three treatments were 2.44 ± 0.55, 2.76 ± 0.20 and 2.64 ± 0.09 in T₁, T₂ and T₃, respectively. The total expenditures of T₁, T₂, T₃ and T₄ were Tk. 2,946, Tk. 3,759, Tk. 3,492 and Tk. 1,686/dm, respectively, while the gross incomes of T₁, T₂, T₃ and T₄ were Tk. 3,388, Tk. 5,134, Tk. 4,310 and Tk. 25/dm, respectively. The highest net income (Tk. 1,375/dm) was obtained from T₂, and the highest return on investment (36.58%) was also found in T₂. From the experiment, it could be summarized that C. batrachus culture requires high-protein supplementary feed, and maximum output in terms of growth, survival and production was found when the formulated feed was prepared with fish meal.